The Scottish Parliament Building- A report into Project Failure
Introduction
Sitting within the UNESCO World Heritage site, the new home to the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood from its outset has proven to be controversial. Opening in 2004, politicians, the media and the Scottish public have criticized many aspects of the build. Aside from cost controversy surrounded the decision to construct a new building, the choice of site, the selection of a non-Scottish architect and the selection of Bovis as a construction Manager after being earlier excluded from the shortlist.
In amongst its criticisms the building has seven awards, including the 2005 Stirling prize, the Vill Biennial of Spanish Architecture and the RIAS Andrew Doolan award for architecture,
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We will be looking at ways in which the cost of the parliament can be kept to a minimum'. The time frame was set with a designer to be in place by early 1998 and for the building to be complete for the new Millennium. As such, it seems the Scottish parliament was unable to decide where there priorities lay with respect to quality, cost and time.
The panel selected designer Enric Miralles with the work being awarded to EMBT/RMJM (Scotland) Ltd, a Spanish-Scottish joint venture design company set up specifically for the project. The two practices found the two different cultures and ways of working difficult to adapt to, especially since they were also working from two different locations and communicating mainly via fax. In 1998, Bill Armstrong, Project Manager to the project, resigned from his position due to not receiving the support necessary to enable him to carry out his job and heavily criticising Miralles saying ‘a stand must be taken to either bring Miralles to heel or to accept his inadequacies. He does not believe he has any. The programme will drift, the cost will increase, the design team will make claims, the contractors will make claims and the project will become a disaster.' Project communication was also hindered by the multi-headed client comprising of the SPCB, the presiding officer and an architectural advisor. The project was also further complicated by the deaths of the architect Miralles in July 2000 and Donald Dewar, first minister in October of the same
For government budgeting to be effective, the process that guides it must be an evolving one. As the government gets bigger, it will most likely destabilize the existing method. Therefore, it must change to keep pace with the demands and growth of the country. The process must be capable of handling the complexity of our nation and its multifaceted needs so it will always need revisions and restructuring to face these new challenges. Its ultimate goal must be to reinforce the government and strengthen the country.
The Death of Lord Liverpool as the Most Important Reason for the Collapse of the Tory Ministries
After long and heated arguments between experts, it was decided that the Superintendent of Construction was extremely inexperienced, and that there was "recklessness in the handling of public money," on the part of the Treasury Department and the Immigration Bureau of Officials. The entire building, excluding the hospitals, had been built shoddily. After news of the problems with the building had been in the media, a lot of people involved with the construction of the building resigned their positions.
In the 1930s airships, better known today as “blimps”, were the main source of air travel. During this time, the airships were used for various different reasons such as: bombing enemy targets, patrolling coastal areas, escorting naval ships during the night or through unsafe bodies of water, or used to make luxury flights across the Atlantic. The Hindenburg was believed to be the biggest and most sophisticated aircraft ever built.
The piece I will be discussing is Eileen Gray’s ‘Villa E1027’. The piece is hugely influential in the architecture and design world. It was one of greys first architectural projects
For this book review I read, Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes. The main character is a young girl named Deja, who narrates the whole story in first person. Life is difficult for Deja and her family, especially since her father is sick and very depressed and the family has been forced to move into a homeless shelter. Deja has to transfer to a new school where she is assigned to work on a project about September 11th that slowly helps her understand how much that day has affected her father’s life and the life of her entire family. The story takes place in 2016 in New York City. The conflict is person vs. self.
Soon after the fire, legislature decided to tear down the remains of the damaged structure and replace it with a larger and more stylish design. Chicago architect, Henry Ives Cobb, was selected to design and build the second capitol. The government gave him a budget of only $550,000, which was not nearly enough to reproduce the size and design that the legislature had envisioned. Due to limited funds, Cobb was unable to finish his intended design. Legislature was embarrassed and unimpres...
James F. O'Gorman, Dennis E. McGrath. ABC of Architecture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998. Document. October 2013.
The former British, now the colonists, was tired of the king’s demands and laws. They wanted taxation with representation. The colonists protested by throwing massive amounts of tea into the Boston Harbor. The colonist did not want religion to significantly develop the government’s proceedings. The King followed the Pope’s decrees, which were passed to the citizens that by law must follow. This will lead to the United States government separation of Church and State. The British government was corrupt and the colonists wanted change, so they decided, “that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such
Our nation's revolution was a great achievement in U.S History. With the dawn of a new nation, there would have to be a central location to make the new decisions of our country. Our capitol has stood as the heart of our country since the late 1700s. The United States capitol is among the most architecturally impressive and symbolically important buildings in the world. For almost two centuries it has housed the meeting chambers of the senate and the House of Representatives. Begun in 1793, the capitol building has been built, burnt, rebuilt, extended, and restored. Today our capitol stands as a monument to the American people and their government. (AOC.gov)
The variety of articles, books and opinions pertaining to the New Palace of Westminster were quite interesting. While it is well known that there is confusion around the roles and work of Barry and Pugin on this famous piece of architecture, the range of opinions and there supporting resources were intriguing. Robert Dell published an article filled with supporting resources that really supported the fact that A.W.N. Pugin was the “true” architect for the Houses of Parliament while Roland Quinault defended quite the opposite, barely mentioning Pugin in his work. The book titled the The New Palace of Westminster provides a very different description of the building and its history than The History of Parliament organization article on the New Palace of Westminster.
"Three Architects Selected to Receive the 2009 American Institute of Architects Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture." American Institute of Architects (2009): N.p. Web. 4 Jun 2011. .
In order to create innovative public architecture, considered to be the most civic, costly, time intensive and physical of the arts, the project holds a degree of risk, strife, and negotiation . Overcoming these tasks and creating worthy public architecture is a challenge designers try to accomplish, but are rarely successful. The people involved in a potential public building, can be larger than the building itself. Public architecture tries to please all, even the doubters and critics, but because of the all these factors, a building is closer to failing than succeeding.
...famous architects, proposed to demolished and replaced with an underground car park which serves with a city square. This proposal simulated serious debate, as some company considered building hotel on the site, council department was thinking of moving in and out, etc.
I have completed Bsc (Hons) Construction management at the University of West London, and I would now like to further my career by studying MSC Project enterprise and management at UCL. I have made this decision after understanding that this course will enable me to develop a broad understating of construction management of large and complex projects and increase my commercial awareness of these projects. I also expect this course to be taught with both academic rigour and place consistent emphasis on practical application of what I learn to construction environment. After working in construction for industry for almost 2 years, and studying a bachelor’s degree I feel I am more than capable of completing Msc Project Entriprise with success as I have already experienced the rigors & dynamics of university education.